Method and System for the Calculation of the Sensitivities of an Electrical Parameter of an Integrated Circuit

1. A method for determining nominal values of at least one electrical parameter for an integrated circuit comprised of a plurality of circuit elements, the method comprising: producing, by a computer, a template which describes physical geometry of a portion of the integrated circuit, wherein the portion of the integrated circuit comprises at least two circuit elements disposed between two layers; producing, by the computer, a grid of nodes for the template, wherein the grid of nodes is disposed in the space between the at least two circuit elements; determining, by the computer, the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter by using a nominal linear system that comprises a discretized linear system of equations descriptive of an electrical potential at the nodes of the grid of nodes, wherein determining the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter comprises solving the nominal linear system to obtain a vector of potentials and using the obtained vector of potentials to obtain the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter; and determining, by the computer, sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter by applying an adjoint method to an auxiliary linear system, wherein determining the sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter comprises using the obtained vector of potentials, wherein the auxiliary linear system represents a relationship between an auxiliary vector and known relative variation with respect to discretized electrical quantities of the nodes, wherein determining the sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter comprises applying a two-step method, wherein the two-step method comprises an iterative procedure for solving finite-difference equations resulting from discretizing Laplace or Poisson partial differential equations in a rectangle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the grid of nodes is non-uniform.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical parameter is one of: a capacitance value; a resistance value; an inductance value; or a reluctance value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical parameter is capacitance and the method determines the nominal values of side by side capacitance between two wires of the integrated circuit, the side by side capacitance including fringe capacitance, upper parallel plate capacitance, upper fringe capacitance, lower parallel plate capacitance and lower fringe capacitance.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nominal linear system is a function of a plurality of geometric parameters descriptive of at least one circuit element enclosed by the template.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising: selecting, using the determined sensitivity values, certain ones of the plurality of geometric parameters whose change most impact the at least one electrical parameter.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the plurality of geometric parameters comprises at least one of: a thickness of a circuit element, a thickness of a layer, a dielectric constant for a circuit element, a dielectric constant for a layer, a separation distance between two circuit elements, and a separation distance between two wires.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein a complexity for determining the sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter is independent of the number of geometric parameters in the plurality of geometric parameters.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter comprises applying a two-step method, wherein the two-step method comprises an iterative procedure for solving finite-difference equations resulting from discretizing Laplace or Poisson partial differential equations in a rectangle.

10. The computer readable memory medium of claim 1 , wherein the nominal linear system is a function of a plurality of geometric parameters descriptive of at least one circuit element enclosed by the template.

11. The computer readable memory medium of claim 10 , the actions further comprising: selecting, using the determined sensitivity values, certain ones of the plurality of geometric parameters whose change most impact the at least one electrical parameter.

12. The computer readable memory medium of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of geometric parameters comprises at least one of: a thickness of a circuit element, a thickness of a layer, a dielectric constant for a circuit element, a dielectric constant for a layer, a separation distance between two circuit elements, and a separation distance between two wires.

13. The computer readable memory medium of claim 10 , wherein a complexity for determining the sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter is independent of the number of geometric parameters in the plurality of geometric parameters.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to take actions to determine nominal values of at least one electrical parameter for an integrated circuit comprised of a plurality of circuit elements, the actions comprising: producing a template which describes physical geometry of a portion of the, wherein the portion of the integrated circuit comprises at least two circuit elements disposed between two layers; producing a grid of nodes for the template, wherein the grid of nodes is disposed in the space between the at least two circuit elements; determining the nominal values of the at least one electrical property by using a nominal linear system that comprises a discretized linear system of equations descriptive of an electrical potential at the nodes of the grid of nodes, wherein determining the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter comprises solving the nominal linear system to obtain a vector of potentials and using the obtained vector of potentials to obtain the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter; and determining sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter by applying an adjoint method to an auxiliary linear system, wherein determining the sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter comprises using the obtained vector of potentials, wherein the auxiliary linear system represents a relationship between an auxiliary vector and known relative variation with respect to discretized electrical quantities of the nodes, wherein determining the sensitivity values for the at least one electrical parameter comprises applying a two-step method, wherein the two-step method comprises an iterative procedure for solving finite-difference equations resulting from discretizing Laplace or Poisson partial differential equations in a rectangle.

15. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 14 , wherein the grid of nodes is non-uniform.

16. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 14 , wherein the at least one electrical property is one of: a capacitance; a resistance; an inductance; or a reluctance.

17. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 14 , wherein the at least one electrical property is capacitance and the actions determine the nominal values of side by side capacitance between two wires of the integrated circuit, the side by side capacitance including fringe capacitance, upper parallel plate capacitance, upper fringe capacitance, lower parallel plate capacitance and lower fringe capacitance.

18. The computer readable memory medium of claim 14 , wherein determining the nominal values of the at least one electrical parameter comprises applying a two-step method, wherein the two-step method comprises an iterative procedure for solving finite-difference equations resulting from discretizing Laplace or Poisson partial differential equations in a rectangle.